Election Day 2018 is almost here. Seven reasons to vote RED

It’s finally here. For many Americans it’s Christmas and the Super Bowl wrapped up in one. The question is what are you going to do? What do you want for our country? What is going to make your life better? Here are my thoughts on why RED is the only choice.

Economy - record employment across all racial, income and gender lines along with a large increase in wages. Massive reduction in regulations that stifle economic growth. Huge increase in manufacturing jobs as well as freedom for energy producers to actually produce. WV loves Trump. You should too.

Healthcare - continued push to control pricing through pressure on the drug companies, elimination of the individual mandate, protection for pre-existing conditions, and a drive toward more efficiency in prices and services.

Foreign policy - an American first policy of demanding our allies to pay their fare share and discontinuing their trade with adversaries ie Iran. A very healthy skepticism of continuing foreign conflicts and not getting involved in others ie Syria. The New Republicans are not searching for foreign conflicts to get involved in. Rather, they seek discourse with our enemies and using external pressures like economic sanctions to gain the desired results.

Immigration - finally a policy that represents the will of the majority of Americans that believe in immigration completely, but want an orderly, lawful process. There is no racism or hate. We simply believe that lawbreaking doesn’t make anyone a hero, but instead makes them a criminal. Build the wall.

Political correctness - we have suffered for years with politicians and our media betters who attempted to dictate what could and could not be said. Ideas that they didn’t agree with were deemed hateful, racist, homophobic, transphobic or xenophobic. That was a quick and effective way to shut down dissenting viewpoints. Those days are over. President Trump has shattered the PC movement in the US. The remaining pieces should be swept into the dustbin of history.

2nd Amendment - if you value the ability to keep and bear arms there is only one choice. One party speaks of confiscation the other defends your given rights as Americans.

Foreign Trade - under the New Republicans our trade deals have been renegotiated with the sole intention of making them fair. Countries that protect their industries while exploiting ours have realized that those days are over. It will be fair for both parties or they will suffer economically. As it should be.

A vote for the Republicans will ensure the continuation of these hugely beneficial policies. A vote for blue ensures this will come to a screeching halt. Vote accordingly.

Don't listen to the media. There is actually room to agree.

Every day we see our country more and more quickly dividing into two tribes. On one side are the people who are appalled and horrified by our current president and the direction that he is taking the country. On the other side we have people who wake up each day happy and hopeful for the current leadership. This isn’t new. Every presidency has its detractors. And that’s good. You want a check on such a powerful position. That’s the job of the opposition party and to a certain extent the media.

We have always been politically divided. And for the love of God, disagreement is ok. We all don’t need to share the same thoughts and opinions. Division is normal BUT hating your countrymen is not. And we are seeing way too much of that now. And it’s got to stop.

What’s interesting is that the actual divide is smaller than most would imagine. If you listen to the media you would think a new civil war is brewing. But, amazingly, there are many areas that although we may not agree exactly are certainly areas of shared concern. I’ve had numerous conversations with Bernie fans and have always found considerable overlap in their political views with those of Trump voters. Most of the New Republicans believe in ideas that are a great distance from traditional republican viewpoints.

One of the areas of common ground between those on the right and progressives is the power and control of corporations. Both sides agree that corporations have too much influence in our political life. The trade deals are a great example of this. Since NAFTA we have been lead to believe that outsourcing is inevitable and is ALWAYS a great thing. The economists make sensible arguments about the freedom of capital flow and the benefits of reduced prices of goods. The corporations desire cheap labor and pliant countries in which to produce their goods. The politicians, whether well intentioned or not have crafted laws that have encouraged companies to move their manufacturing facilities to less developed nations.

Both sides agree is that this has been terrible for those who have lost jobs and been left out of the decision making process. The tariff issue is also connected to this. Once again, the economists and foreign trade experts are almost uniformly opposed to using them to try to even out our massive foreign trade deficits. The same with our political leadership. Somehow other countries using tariffs against our products is ok. It’s also ok that they hold massive trade surpluses with the US. And once again our political leadership has chosen to side with the interests of the corporations and donors. This is just one of the areas that President Trump and those on the left can agree on.

The Trump movement focuses on the aspects of American life that have been ignored for years. The overwhelming power of corporations and the resulting trade deals are some of the many areas that more left leaning folks and those on the new right can agree on. One thing missing from the current political debate are areas where we can find common ground. When you view those on the opposite side as simply people with unique views and opinions and NOT haters discussion becomes possible. One thing that is absolutely obvious is that MORE not less discussion is needed. More to come…in the meantime, be respectful and love your fellow Americans.